Los Niños Elementary second-grader Alejandro Estrada concentrates on a problem for school math specialist Jean Olson. The Rodel Foundation of Arizona's Math Achievement Club program aims to improve the math skills of about 18,000 students throughout Arizona.

Photos by James s. wood / Arizona Daily Star

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Four students at a table in Cristina Barcelo's second-grade classroom are using rubber dice and addition skills to win a bingo game.

At another table, students estimate the number of cookie cutters, pasta pieces and beans in containers and laugh when they discover how close — or far away — the actual number is.

It's a change of pace from learning math from a textbook. And that's part of the point.

"Some of the books we use are not enough," Barcelo said. "They need that extra help."

Los Niños Elementary School students and about 18,000 others statewide are wrapping up the first month of specialized math learning as part of the Rodel Charitable Foundation of Arizona's Math Achievement Club program, or MAC-Ro. The beginning of the seven-month program coincides with Math Achievement Month, a new push by Gov. Janet Napolitano to "increase mathematics achievement for the good of the whole."

In its fourth year, MAC-Ro is improving math test scores and comprehension at 88 elementary schools in the state where at least 70 percent of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. It began in 2003 with 10 schools in Arizona, and this year many schools are on a long waiting list, Rodel President Carol Peck said.

Local and state businesses have donated more than $500,000 to the program this year, she said.

Five Sunnyside schools — Los Niños, Esperanza, Ocotillo, Santa Clara and Summit View elementaries — with more than 1,300 students in second through fourth grades are taking part this year. The district has the most schools involved in the program in Pima County.

The Tucson Unified and Flowing Wells school districts each have two schools in MAC-Ro, and Amphitheater Public Schools has four.

Peck began the program while she was a superintendent in the Phoenix-area Alhambra Elementary School District, after discovering a survey in which two of five adults said they'd hated math in school.

"If we could get students to love math when they're young, we'll have a generation of mathematicians," said Peck, who expanded the program statewide after she moved to Rodel.

Rodel data show results have been dramatic since the program's inception. On the Terra Nova test, the grade-school equivalent of AIMS, students who participated in the MAC-Ro program increased their math scores by 16.8 points from the previous year. The average increase statewide in 2005 was 12 points.

State Department of Education data show that students in low-income areas tend to perform at a lower standard on the math portion of tests than those in more affluent areas. The percentage of students in low-income areas who pass the reading and writing portions is similar across socioeconomic lines.

Los Niños was one of the first schools to participate in MAC-Ro in the 2003-04 school year, and its math scores have improved greatly.

In 2004, 47 percent of third-graders passed the math portion of the test. The following year, 86 percent of third-graders passed the test.

But beyond the test scores is a newfound excitement in kids who formerly had very abstract math skills.

"I kind of liked math before, but (now) I love math," said Aaron Perez, 7.

Beda Ortiz had no problem figuring out two numbers that added up to 12.

"That wasn't hard," said Beda, 7. "I could add up to 100," she said, and quickly noted that 50 plus 50 equals 100.

"I need to find a bigger challenge for you," Barcelo said.

With the classroom instruction comes a workbook filled with activities and games that the students can work on with their parents. Those who complete all the assignments at the end of the month get prizes.

"Their incentive is getting the reward, but on top of that this is really enjoyable for them," said Barcelo, who was a stockbroker before she started teaching at Los Niños four years ago.

Garrett Houdek, 8, is a third-grader at Los Niños who participated in MAC-Ro last year. He's part of the district's gifted-student program and said exercises that involve multiplying large numbers aren't that easy.

"It's challenging," he said. "All the math problems are tricky."

Barcelo said the added work from Rodel often can be a strain, but seeing the students as they learn how to break large numbers into individual pieces makes it worthwhile.

"They are really giving it 100 percent," she said.

Pima County schools taking part in MAC-Ro:

Amphitheater Public Schools

Keeling Elementary

Nash Elementary

Prince Elementary

Rio Vista Elementary

Flowing Wells Unified School District

Laguna Elementary

Walter Douglas Elementary

Sunnyside Unified School District

Esperanza Elementary

Los Niños Elementary

Ocotillo Elementary

Santa Clara Elementary

Summit View Elementary

Tucson Unified School District

Myers Ganoung Elementary

Wright Elementary